Danziger Bridge gunfire by cop was a message: 'Don't mess with us'

On the Danziger Bridge days after Hurricane Katrina, Michael Hunter said he first fired warning shots when he came upon unarmed, fleeing citizens, and later joined a squadron of colleagues in opening fire on some of them.

"I wanted to send a message," Hunter said of emptying his handgun of bullets. "Don't mess with us."

Story by:

Laura Maggi

and Brendan McCarthy,

staff writers

Hunter, who drove a speeding panel truck full of officers to the scene, said he assumed at the time that the people on the bridge had guns and had shot at cops because colleagues heard a distress call that said so.

But when he and fellow officers got to the scene, they shot before asking questions. They never saw any guns and never issued any commands that the Bartholomew family could respond to, Hunter said Wednesday from the witness stand in federal court.

Hunter, who has pleaded guilty to two federal criminal charges in the high-stakes bridge case, testified for more than seven hours Wednesday. He offered the most expansive, detailed eyewitness account so far in the two-week-old trial, taking jurors from the moments before the shooting through an alleged police cover-up that survived until 2010.

The former officer once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the five current or former cops on trial. But he agreed to cooperate with the federal government and plead guilty once he learned another cop had flipped and was working with prosecutors.

"I was scared, basically," Hunter said. "The truth had gotten out. And it was just a matter of time."

Defense attorneys, however, portrayed Hunter as a liar who is prone to hyperbole, interested in appeasing prosecutors and saving his own skin. They suggested that Hunter's own actions, most notably his firing of so-called warning shots, played a pivotal role in the incident. Court proceedings wrapped for the day with Hunter on the stand, and attorneys for the five officers on trial will have more chances to question Hunter on Thursday morning.

THE DEFENDANTS AND THE CHARGES AGAINST THEM

KENNETH BOWEN: 13 counts

6 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law in the fatal shooting of James Brissette and wounding of four others on the bridge. Bowen is also accused of kicking and stomping on Ronald Madison after he was fatally shot by another officer.

2 counts of using a weapon during commission of a crime of violence.

1 count of conspiracy.

2 counts of obstruction of justice.

2 counts of civil rights conspiracy.

ROBERT FAULCON: 12 counts

6 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law in fatal shootings of James Brissette and Ronald Madison, as well as wounding of four people.

3 counts of using a weapon during commission of a crime of violence.

1 count of conspiracy.

1 count of obstruction of justice.

1 count of civil rights conspiracy.

ROBERT GISEVIUS: 11 counts

5 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law in fatal shooting of James Brissette and wounding of four others.

2 counts of using a weapon during commission of a crime of violence.

1 count of conspiracy.

1 count of obstruction of justice.

2 counts of civil rights conspiracy.

ARTHUR KAUFMAN: 10 counts

4 counts of falsification of records in a federal investigation.

3 counts of false statements.

2 counts of civil rights conspiracy for false prosecution.

1 count of conspiracy.

ANTHONY VILLAVASO: 10 counts

5 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law for fatal shooting of James Brissette and wounding of four others.

2 counts of using a weapon during commission of crime of violence.

1 count of conspiracy.

1 count of obstruction of justice.

1 count of civil rights conspiracy.

ALREADY PLEADED GUILTY

Officer ROBERT BARRIOS

1 count of conspiracy to obstruct justice

Former officer IGNATIUS HILLS

1 count of conspiracy to obstruct justice

1 count of misprision of a felony

Officer MICHAEL HUNTER

1 count of conspiracy to obstruct justice

1 count of misprision of a felony

Former officer JEFFREY LEHRMANN

1 count of misprision of a felony

Former Lt. MICHAEL LOHMAN

1 count of conspiracy to obstruct justice

Earlier on Wednesday, Hunter explained that New Orleans police officers, in the stressful days after the flood, developed an "us-versus-them mentality" about the citizens they encountered.

He made this observation while describing Sgt. Kenneth Bowen stomping on a man who moments earlier was shot by another officer. That man, 40-year-old Ronald Madison, was killed by a shotgun blast to the back while running from police on the Gentilly side of the bridge.

Hunter said he grew infuriated with the stomping and yelled at Bowen. Later, Bowen apologized for his behavior, Hunter recalled, prompting him to tell Bowen: "We aren't animals like them. We don't do that."

"After so many days, there was an us-versus-them mentality among the Police Department in general," Hunter said.

The line of questioning ended quickly, after defense attorneys objected that Hunter's testimony should be confined to what he felt that day.

A 7th District officer when the storm hit, Hunter is one of five officers who have pleaded guilty in the case, admitting to conspiracy to obstruct justice and misprision of a felony.

Hunter drove the large Budget rental truck to the bridge that day, giving him an unfettered vantage point. Bowen sat beside him, while at least eight other officers were in the back of the speeding box truck.

As they approached the bridge, Hunter assumed a group of people on the bridge were the ones who had reportedly shot at other officers.

Hunter described taking out his Glock handgun and firing warning shots into the air with his left hand, prompting the people on the bridge to scatter. Some jumped behind a concrete barrier along the side of the bridge. Others ran up the bridge.

As he stopped the truck and got out, Hunter said he saw Bowen fire an AK-47 at the concrete barrier. Hunter said he saw an older man poke his head up and Bowen fired at him. "Some of the rounds hit the concrete barrier and the guy ducked his head back down," he said.

Hunter, meanwhile, said he ran to the front of the truck and fired toward people running up the bridge. He said he aimed above them and that his bullets never struck anyone. Nonetheless, the shooting was unjustified, he testified, as he saw no weapons and the people did not pose a threat to him or others.

Asked why he never yelled a warning to the people or identified himself as a police officer, Hunter said:

"Mostly because I wasn't thinking straight, being stupid," Hunter said. "Part of me was angry, I believed these people had shot at police officers. I was angry about it, that they had the audacity to shoot at us."

Hunter said Sgt. Robert Gisevius, armed with an M-4 assault rifle, joined him in shooting at people running up the bridge. Eventually, Hunter moved towards the passenger side of the truck, and spotted four colleagues -- Bowen, Robert Barrios, Anthony Villavaso and Robert Faulcon -- lined up, facing the concrete barrier along the side of the bridge, he recalled. Several were shooting.

Barrios has pleaded guilty, but has not yet testified. Villavaso, Faulcon, Gisevius and Bowen are all charged with civilnrights violations in the shooting.

Moments later, Hunter, Faulcon and Gisevius hopped into a car driven by a State Police trooper. They drove down the bridge in pursuit of three men they believed had been shooting at officers. These men were later identified as Ronald Madison, his older brother Lance, and another man.

At the base of the bridge, Hunter recalled hearing a shotgun blast and seeing a bloodied Ronald Madison sprawled on the ground. Hunter said he knew Faulcon had shot him, though he never heard Faulcon issue any warnings or commands to halt.

Danziger Bridge trial update July 6, 2011: videoThe Times-Picayune's crime reporter Brendan McCarthy explains the testimony of NOPD shooter-turned-prosecution-witness Michael Hunter, who testified about the mayhem they laid on the group of unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The next part of Hunter's testimony centered on an alleged police cover-up of the shootings, which left two civilians dead and four seriously wounded.

Hours after the shooting, the seven officers who fired their weapons were called to a round-table discussion with indicted Sgt. Arthur Kaufman and Lt. Michael Lohman, who has pleaded guilty and already testified. Kaufman, who is accused of orchestrating the cover-up, is on trial alongside the four officers accused in the shootings.

Hunter recalled Wednesday that the officers began reciting how many times each fired their weapons. Lohman at one point said: "We can't have this looking like a massacre," Hunter recalled.

Hunter admitted in court that he lied about how many times he fired his Glock handgun. He said back then that he fired three or four rounds, but it was really many more, he said.

"It was pretty obvious they were initiating a cover-up situation," he said. "They didn't separate us and ask us questions individually. Nothing was collected from the scene."

Hunter described himself as being on the periphery of the cover-up. At times, he said, he saw other officers huddled with Kaufman.

Attorneys for the five officers on trial repeatedly emphasized that Hunter has been sentenced to eight years in prison and is hoping the government will ask a judge to reduce his sentence.

At times, Hunter bristled at the line of questioning from defense attorneys, especially Paul Fleming, who quizzed Hunter about when he revealed certain facts to federal investigators. Fleming noted that Hunter was previously suspended from the NOPD for "untruthfulness."

Fleming also portrayed Hunter as a malcontent, noting that he had switched jobs several times in 2005 leading up to the storm. He left squads supervised by two of the defendants, Bowen and Gisevius. Before the storm, he had been transferred to the night watch platoon.

Another defense attorney, Frank DeSalvo, pressed Hunter about the credibility of his version of events. Showing on a grainy video clip of the incident taken from the nearby Interstate 10 high-rise, DeSalvo questioned whether Hunter could have done all the things he said he did in such a short period of time.